Money-making venture: Rupesh Shah and Sridhar Iyer on a mission to make computer education more fun

Rupesh Shah boasts cookie-cutter credentials-engineering degree in computer science, followed by a B-school stamp, IIM-Calcutta in his case. A six-figure salary and the corporate rat-race would be the logical conclusion. Instead, the 25-year-old decided to team up with his IIT-Bombay professor to make education fun, interactive and rote-free, specifically computer learning. The result was InOpen Technologies, which was set up in October 2009.

After Shah completed his engineering degree in 2008, he started working under Dr. Sridhar Iyer, a professor at the department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT-B. This is when the duo figured they would tap a glaring gap in computer learning. "I noticed that everybody just wanted to learn computer application through skill and not through concept. This serious lack of basic understanding made me think about giving computer learning an early start, right at the onset of a growing mind," says Shah. Even before the duo embarked on their technology-driven venture, since 2006 they were working to design a curriculum that would provide computer learning to school-going children. It was only in July 2009 that they decided to draw on their experience and start a company together.

This decision came as a shocker to Shah's family. He was 21 years old with everything going for him, but he wanted to turn entrepreneur, and that too in the education sector. But he stuck to his guns and tapped family and friends to drum up Rs 7-8 lakh as his share of the seed capital. Iyer ploughed in Rs 20 lakh from his own savings and in December 2009, InOpen Technologies started operations. The duo's first computer-learning curriculum, Computer Masti, was designed for children aged 3-18 years.

This content-based curriculum teaches computer literacy skills through three animated characters-Tejas, Jyoti and Moz, their mascot-and the lessons are tucked inside character dialogues. In addition, Shah and Iyer have made the curriculum implementation flexible by tweaking it according to the learning patterns-think textbooks, e-books, software, CDs and the like-of different schools across the country.

Initially, there weren't many takers for Computer Masti. But with the beginning of a new academic year the previous summer, the idea found acceptance in schools in many areas of Maharashtra. Today, the course has been incorporated in 78 schools across India through 2.5 lakh students and a few government projects in Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra and Kerala. Since December 2009, the company has raked in Rs 10 lakh. They hope to break even in the next two years.

To ensure a pan-India presence, the duo translated the module into eight regional languages, plus two foreign languages to maintain global appeal. According to Shah, the e-book versions have already been downloaded in more than 120 countries.

The 100-employee company, with offices in Mumbai, Jaipur and Hyderabad, is now eyeing a footprint in Chennai and Cochin. "We are in talks with a few partners to enter the retail vertical. You can expect an upgraded 2.0 web-based version of the course this year," adds Shah. The company also plans to start computer learning centres for young minds.